Madden 09 Roster Update #15 Details

The 15th roster update for Madden 09 is set to come out tomorrow. Somehow, someway, LaDainian Tomlinson remains a 99. That was actually even a topic of discussion on a podcast with the Thompson Brothers and Jonathan Crankshaw who is in charge of the roster updates. You can listen to that podcast here.

What we’ve seen is players that start really high or really low that their performance isn’t being compensated for enough because of that. Updates have inched some of them towards where they should be but not as if they started fresh. Rookies like Steve Slaton and John Carlson or a player like DeAngelo Williams are still too low while others like Tomlinson and Chad Johnson are overrated. Maybe in the future it would be a good idea to step back somewhat at each quarter point of the season and adjust ratings more substantially based on current performance.

Ratings Up
LB Lance Briggs – Bears – 95 to 96 – Leading the team in tackles and is playing at a very high level.
S Josh Barrett – Broncos – 70 to 72 – Started for the Broncos and did a good job on Tony G in coverage on several plays.
LB D’Qwell Jackson – Browns – 87 to 88 – Huge year for the Browns LB. 130 tackles/2 sacks/3 INT’s on the season. Had a 3rd INT go off his hands early in the Titans game.
CB Rod Hood – Cardinals – 86 to 87 – Forms a nice tandem at CB with DRC. Can shutdown most non-elite WR’s.
T Mike Gandy – Cardinals – 93 to 94 – The most impressive pass blocking LT this season. Routinely shuts out his man opposite him. The Cardinals pass more than any team and get blitzed more than any team and he never gets beat.
WR Steve Breaston – Cardinals – 83 to 84 – Got a speed increase after getting deep several more times. Is resembling a complete NFL WR.
CB Maurice Leggett – Chiefs – 68 to 70 – Chiefs might have got one here. Has 2 INT’s for TD’s in the past 3 games. Routinely in nickel formations and could be a nickel back next season.
S Ken Hamlin – Cowboys – 88 to 89 – Although the guy playing next to him changes by the week, he has been playing at a high level.
HB Tashard Choice – Cowboys – 77 to 78 – Had a very nice game vs. the best defense in the NFL. Should be in line for a couple touches a game going forward even with a health Barber.
DT Jason Ferguson – Dolphins – 85 to 86 – Big nose tackle in the middle of the Dolphins 3-4, has 4 tackles for loss.
LB Charlie Anderson – Dolphins – 76 to 77 – Got a power move/finesse move upgrade after showing some big pass rushing moves vs. the Bills Jason Peters.
DE Kendall Langford – Dolphins – 77 to 78 – Made a nice tackle behind the LOS last week. Has 26 tackles and 2 sacks as a 3-4 end.
LB Channing Crowder – Dolphins – 85 to 86 – Second leading tackler on the Dolphins behind Yeremiah Bell.
LB Stewart Bradley – Eagles – 81 to 84 – Leading tackler on the Eagles. Looks very fast out there in pursuit.
DT Brodrick Bunkley – Eagles – 85 to 86 – Has racked up 39 tackles and 2 sacks and is improving each game.
DT Jonathan Babineaux – Falcons – 84 to 86 – Is starting to dominate on some plays. Has 3.5 sacks and 8 tackles for loss.
QB Matt Ryan – Falcons – 86 to 87 – Showed tremendous accuracy putting his passes in only places where his receivers could make a play last week.
WR Roddy White – Falcons – 92 to 93 – Has improved over his great season last year. Must be covered with 2 players.
C Eric Heitmann – 49ers – 85 to 88 – Was just rewarded with a contract extension and praise from the coaches on how well he is blocking.
TE Vernon Davis – 49ers – 85 to 86 – Got some attention to the blocking ratings after Singletary called him the best blocking TE he has ever seen. Watching him he could bulk up and be a dominate pass blocking LT.
QB Shaun Hill – 49ers – 77 to 78 – Playing with the same players as JT O’Turnover, Hill has outperformed him in every passing stat.
G Chilo Rachal – 49ers – 75 to 78 – Now starting at G for the Niners. Second round pick out of USC.
CB Tramon Williams – Packers – 81 to 82 – Has started the last 2 games at CB and has been relatively clean of the blame of the pass defense woes.
G Travelle Wharton – Panthers – 89 to 92 – Panthers best offensive lineman. Moved over from tackle last season.
G Keydrick Vincent – Panthers – 79 to 81 – Is a mauler in the run game at RG.
T Jeff Otah – Panthers – 78 to 79 – Is much better run blocking than pass blocking.
FB Brad Hoover – Panthers – 87 to 89 – One of the last true fullbacks that still plays a lot of snaps.
WR Wes Welker – Patriots – 94 to 95 – Is the Patriots entire offense at some points. Was a big reason they were able to get a win in Seattle last week.
DT Justin Bannan – Ravens – 85 to 88 – Is an absolute beast up front.
LB Ray Lewis – Ravens – 95 to 96 – Bannan has helped Ray Lewis look great again.
WR Derrick Mason – Ravens – 91 to 92 – Would put up huge numbers in a pass heavy offense. Still should eclipse 80 catches and 1,000 yards.
LB Terrell Suggs – Ravens – 88 to 89 – Is making plays again this season with 6.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
DT Kendrick Clancy – Saints – 79 to 80 – Was getting a monster surge vs. Atlanta in the run game. Clancy and Ellis should help Vilma stay clean from lineman.
T Jon Stinchcomb – Saints – 85 to 87 – Underrated RT who has probably played better than their big LT Jamaal Brown.
CB Ike Taylor – Steelers – 89 to 92 – After having some coverage issues last season has played great since then. If he had better hands he might be in the talk for the Pro Bowl.
CB William Gay – Steelers – 71 to 74 – Has played pretty well in the past several weeks when issues crept up in the Steelers secondary.
FS Ryan Clark – Steelers – 83 to 86 – 3rd on the team in tackles and has played very well this season and last.
LB Lawrence Timmons – Steelers – 80 to 84 – Too talented to keep off the field anymore. Cutting big time into Larry Foote’s snaps.
T Eric Winston – Texans – 87 to 90 – In a perfect world he would be considered for the Pro Bowl. Has played better than Joe Thomas.
C Chris Myers – Texans – 82 to 84 – Working well with the guards in pass protection and in the run game. Came over from Denver at the start of the season.
HB Steve Slaton – Texans – 84 to 85 – Broke the 1,000 yard mark vs. Green Bay. He is always on the verge of a long run.
QB Matt Schaub – Texans – 85 to 86 – Tore up the Packers injury riddled secondary to the tune of 400+ yards.
DE Jevon Kearse – Titans – 81 to 83 – Name is starting to be called again by commentators. Starting to make plays even if not always sacks.
LT Michael Roos – Titans – 91 to 94 – Still is unknown around most water coolers. As the Titan game continues to put up huge numbers the big guys up front will start getting some talk.
RT David Stewart – Titans – 91 to 93 – A monster at RT. Once he gets locked on its over for the other guy.
G Jake Scott – Titans – 92 to 94 – Came over from Indy this offseason, Indy might have chose the wrong guard to keep.
G Eugene Amano – Titans – 84 to 86 – First year as a starter couldn’t have started better.

Ratings Down
WR Chris Henry – Bengals – 82 to 78 – Has not been a downfield threat in Cincy this season and has dropped passes underneath.
DE Antwan Odom – Bengals – 84 to 80 – A free agent bust from Tennessee. A rotational lineman asked to take the next step into an every down lineman didn’t pan out.
QB JP Losman – Bills – 77 to 75 – Has looked worse than bad the past two weeks.
T Kevin Shaffer – Browns – 89 to 87 – Spends too much time on the ground now and the Browns offensive line has taken a step back, Joe Thomas too.
S Jarrad Page – Chiefs – 77 to 74 – His lack of pursuit in trying to tackle sticks out week to week.
DE Tamba Hali – Chiefs – 81 to 78 – The Chiefs are going to set an NFL record for fewest sacks, Hali had to step up with the loss of Jared Allen and did not.
LB Donnie Edwards – Chiefs – 90 to 86 – Should only play on passing downs at this point. Has been battling injuries.
DT Tank Johnson – Cowboys – 80 to 78 – If his name wasn’t Tank would anyone know he was? No.
WR Reggie Brown – Eagles – 86 to 82 – Injuries have been plaguing him this season, still his numbers are way down.
CB Lito Sheppard – Eagles – 92 to 89 – Is now a dime back for Philly, and the Eagles pass defense numbers have been better with Hanson in there.
WR Steve Smith – Giants – 84 to 82 – Giants are in big trouble if this guy is in the plans for a big part of the offense going forward.
CB Deltha O’Neal – Patriots – 82 to 79 – Routinely burned this season in New England, has now been benched for the rookie Wilhite.
G Jacob Bell – Rams – 94 to 92 – Has not helped Jackson as much as expected and missed some costly blocks last game vs. the Cardinals.
HB Steven Jackson – Rams – 97 to 96 – Showed he still has it hurdling a safety on a run but put the ball on the ground 2 costly times. Is a top 4 NFL running back.
LB Marcus Washington – Redskins – 89 to 87 – Has lost a step and could easily be replaced next season.
QB Jason Campbell – Redskins – 87 to 86 – Is no longer not making mistakes and resembles an average QB against top defenses.
WR Malcolm Kelly – Redskins – 79 to 76 – Has had chances in past weeks but looks pretty slow and raw. Needs another year to get healthy.
LB Larry Foote – Steelers – 86 to 84 – Has deservedly lost snaps to up and coming stud Lawrence Timmons.
WR Sidney Rice – Vikings – 83 to 78 – Has not taken the next step in his second season mostly due to injuries and a passing game which he should be making better.